O Brother, Where Art Thou? • The Next Reel

Joel and Ethan Coen must have a funny sense of humor, because the idea of making an “adaptation” of Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’ without having read it just seems like a bad idea when I picture anyone else doing it, but with them it seems like that’s part of the joke. They put enough of the story into this film to warrant it being credited as an adaption but certainly create a world of their own within the context of the film — 1930s Mississippi. And the Coens are masters of creating worlds within their films. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we finish our Coen series with this fantastic 2000 film. We talk about the story and how it ties into Homer’s original poem, as well as what the Coens have in the story from the era that makes it their own. We discuss the wonderful actors and their performances, from George Clooney and Tim Blake Nelson, to John Turturro and John Goodman, along with all the wonderful supporting performances in between. We delve into the magical world of digital color intermediates and how this film was the first full feature to use this process, as well as analyze the process a bit. And we wrap up our Coen series with a bit of a chat about them and their films, touching on people they’ve worked with, our thoughts on them as filmmakers and storytellers, and looking at how their films stack up against the others. It’s a great film that we both love and have a great time talking about. Tune in! Hey! You know what would be awesome? If you would drop us a positive rating on iTunes! If you like what we’re doing here on TNR, it really is the best way to make sure that this show appears when others search for it, plus, it’s just a nice thing to do. Thanks!!

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